Army tryin' to predict which soldiers are likely to try to commit suicide...

US Army tries to identify soldiers most likely to commit suicideNovember 13, 2014 ~ The U.S. Army has a new analytical tool that officials hope will counter a surge in suicides by identifying soldiers whose history, age and injuries indicate they are at high risk of taking their own lives.

In an analysis involving all 40,820 U.S. soldiers hospitalized for psychiatric problems during a six-year period, researchers created an algorithm to identify some of the Army personnel most likely to commit suicide. Sixty-eight of the soldiers killed themselves within a year of hospitalization. More than half those suicides occurred among the 1,947 soldiers whose health histories and other characteristics gathered from Army records placed them in the algorithm’s highest risk group.

Ronald Kessler, a Harvard University sociologist and suicide expert who led the study — published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry — said the statistical model could be used to target suicide prevention efforts. “We saw quite a few people who killed themselves within six weeks of getting out of the hospital without any follow-up visit,” he said. In the six years covered in the study — 2004 to 2009 — the annual suicide rate in the Army was 18.5 suicides per 100,000 soldiers. The rate among soldiers hospitalized for psychiatric problems was more than 14 times that. Within that group, the researchers wanted to see whether they could home in on those at greatest risk.

Computers combed through 421 variables on each soldier drawn from 38 military data systems. Using a method known as “machine learning,” the researchers identified roughly two dozen factors that proved most important. The soldiers most likely to take their own lives were men with past suicidal behavior and a history of psychiatric disorders and criminal offenses, including weapons possession and verbal assaults. Soldiers with hearing loss also faced heightened risk — a strong indicator that they had suffered a head injury. So did enlisting in the Army after age 27, most likely because those soldiers had already experienced trouble finding their way in life.

In all, the 5 percent of soldiers identified as highest-risk accounted for 36 of the 68 suicides and had an annual rate of 3,824 suicides per 100,000 — more than 200 times the overall rate in the Army. Rates of accidental deaths and suicide attempts were also significantly greater among the 1,947 soldiers in the high-risk group. Seven died in accidents and 555 made a suicide attempt within a year of hospitalization. The Army has put in place an array of suicide-prevention programs, but most were applied broadly to all personnel, said Dr. Eric Schoomaker, who served as surgeon general of the Army until 2012. The new research will allow the Army to focus on soldiers at greatest risk, Schoomaker said.

Study: Indirect link between combat and suicide riskJuly 19, 2014 ~ One of the first comprehensive efforts to explain record suicides among soldiers during and after their deployments in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finds an indirect link between deployment, combat and self-destructive urges, according to a paper published Thursday.

The two scientists who conducted the study — one of them a former Army research director — argue that high rates of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder flowing out of the combat experience can lead to suicidal behavior. The illnesses can lead to a sense of burdening others and social isolation. Add to this loss of personal relationships a familiarity with firearms, and the resulting toxic stew can drive suicides among troops and veterans. The paper published online in Current Psychiatric Reports surmises that this could help explain an astonishing rate of 22 veterans committing suicide each day, as estimated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Suicides among Army active-duty soldiers reached an historic high of 185 in 2012 or a rate of nearly 30 deaths per 100,000, triple the Army rate of 2004 and double what is reported among civilians.

While the number of Army suicides among active duty soldiers declined in 2013 by 19%, suicides among Army National Guard and reservists reached a record 151 in 2013. "It's best to view the increase in military suicides as a result of an increase in mental health issues of service members driven in large part, but not entirely, (by) combat and deployment experiences," wrote the authors, retired Col. Carl Castro, former director of psychological health research for the Army, and researcher Sara Kintzle, both with the University of Southern California. They note, however, that there is no specific reason scientists can cite with absolute certainty to explain the rise in military suicides. But they note that just ahead of increased suicides was a surge in mental problems in the military. Hospitalizations for depression doubled, increased by five-fold for substance and 10-fold for PTSD.

A sense of hopelessness and being a burden, plus the loss or straining of relationships can occur during crucial life transitions, the authors says, such as returning from combat. leaving the military or growing old. "What former service members in both vulnerable age groups share is that they are experiencing a period of transition," the authors write. This is when the worst problems can occur for those already struggling with poor mental health, they say. They called upon both the Pentagon and the VA to do a better job of assisting troubled veterans through crucial periods of transition. "The majority of veterans find purpose and meaning in their military service. It can be a struggle to find that same sense of purpose as a civilian which may ultimately lead to feelings of despair," the paper says.

Army tryin' to predict which soldiers are likely to try to commit suicide...

US Army tries to identify soldiers most likely to commit suicideNovember 13, 2014 ~ The U.S. Army has a new analytical tool that officials hope will counter a surge in suicides by identifying soldiers whose history, age and injuries indicate they are at high risk of taking their own lives.

In an analysis involving all 40,820 U.S. soldiers hospitalized for psychiatric problems during a six-year period, researchers created an algorithm to identify some of the Army personnel most likely to commit suicide. Sixty-eight of the soldiers killed themselves within a year of hospitalization. More than half those suicides occurred among the 1,947 soldiers whose health histories and other characteristics gathered from Army records placed them in the algorithm’s highest risk group.

Ronald Kessler, a Harvard University sociologist and suicide expert who led the study — published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry — said the statistical model could be used to target suicide prevention efforts. “We saw quite a few people who killed themselves within six weeks of getting out of the hospital without any follow-up visit,” he said. In the six years covered in the study — 2004 to 2009 — the annual suicide rate in the Army was 18.5 suicides per 100,000 soldiers. The rate among soldiers hospitalized for psychiatric problems was more than 14 times that. Within that group, the researchers wanted to see whether they could home in on those at greatest risk.

Computers combed through 421 variables on each soldier drawn from 38 military data systems. Using a method known as “machine learning,” the researchers identified roughly two dozen factors that proved most important. The soldiers most likely to take their own lives were men with past suicidal behavior and a history of psychiatric disorders and criminal offenses, including weapons possession and verbal assaults. Soldiers with hearing loss also faced heightened risk — a strong indicator that they had suffered a head injury. So did enlisting in the Army after age 27, most likely because those soldiers had already experienced trouble finding their way in life.

In all, the 5 percent of soldiers identified as highest-risk accounted for 36 of the 68 suicides and had an annual rate of 3,824 suicides per 100,000 — more than 200 times the overall rate in the Army. Rates of accidental deaths and suicide attempts were also significantly greater among the 1,947 soldiers in the high-risk group. Seven died in accidents and 555 made a suicide attempt within a year of hospitalization. The Army has put in place an array of suicide-prevention programs, but most were applied broadly to all personnel, said Dr. Eric Schoomaker, who served as surgeon general of the Army until 2012. The new research will allow the Army to focus on soldiers at greatest risk, Schoomaker said.

Study: Indirect link between combat and suicide riskJuly 19, 2014 ~ One of the first comprehensive efforts to explain record suicides among soldiers during and after their deployments in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finds an indirect link between deployment, combat and self-destructive urges, according to a paper published Thursday.

The two scientists who conducted the study — one of them a former Army research director — argue that high rates of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder flowing out of the combat experience can lead to suicidal behavior. The illnesses can lead to a sense of burdening others and social isolation. Add to this loss of personal relationships a familiarity with firearms, and the resulting toxic stew can drive suicides among troops and veterans. The paper published online in Current Psychiatric Reports surmises that this could help explain an astonishing rate of 22 veterans committing suicide each day, as estimated by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Suicides among Army active-duty soldiers reached an historic high of 185 in 2012 or a rate of nearly 30 deaths per 100,000, triple the Army rate of 2004 and double what is reported among civilians.

While the number of Army suicides among active duty soldiers declined in 2013 by 19%, suicides among Army National Guard and reservists reached a record 151 in 2013. "It's best to view the increase in military suicides as a result of an increase in mental health issues of service members driven in large part, but not entirely, (by) combat and deployment experiences," wrote the authors, retired Col. Carl Castro, former director of psychological health research for the Army, and researcher Sara Kintzle, both with the University of Southern California. They note, however, that there is no specific reason scientists can cite with absolute certainty to explain the rise in military suicides. But they note that just ahead of increased suicides was a surge in mental problems in the military. Hospitalizations for depression doubled, increased by five-fold for substance and 10-fold for PTSD.

A sense of hopelessness and being a burden, plus the loss or straining of relationships can occur during crucial life transitions, the authors says, such as returning from combat. leaving the military or growing old. "What former service members in both vulnerable age groups share is that they are experiencing a period of transition," the authors write. This is when the worst problems can occur for those already struggling with poor mental health, they say. They called upon both the Pentagon and the VA to do a better job of assisting troubled veterans through crucial periods of transition. "The majority of veterans find purpose and meaning in their military service. It can be a struggle to find that same sense of purpose as a civilian which may ultimately lead to feelings of despair," the paper says.

There isn't much combat going on and KIA's are down to almost nothing so the suicide rate must have some other cause. Maybe the attitude of the administration or the tangled relationships when women are forced into combat roles. The absurd pregnancy rate on US warships might be a factor or even the dumb assed openly gay idiots who thought they could fashion skills in the Military.

There isn't much combat going on and KIA's are down to almost nothing so the suicide rate must have some other cause. Maybe the attitude of the administration or the tangled relationships when women are forced into combat roles. The absurd pregnancy rate on US warships might be a factor or even the dumb assed openly gay idiots who thought they could fashion skills in the Military.

Click to expand...

It's a phenomenon that's part and parcel with high stress jobs with exposure to traumatic events and danger, police officers experience the same kind of suicide rates and clusters..there was a period of time during which the FBI experienced rates of 30 to 100,000....another problem is how they handle one, copy cat suicides are not that uncommon.its called the weather effect.

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